Valve.



C. E. THOMPSON.

VALVE.

APPLICATION FILED JAILG. 1911.

Patented Aug. 4, 19%

:fnesses.

CHARLES E. THOMPSON, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

VALVE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

, Patented Aug. 4, 1914.

Application filed January 6, 1911. Serial No. 801,088.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. THOMP- SON, a. citizen of the UnitedStates, resident of Cleveland, county of Cuyahoga, and State of Ohio,have invented a new and useful Improvement in' Valves, of which thefollowing is a specification, the principle of the invention bein hereinexplained and the best mode in whic I have contemplated applying thatprinciple, so as to distinguish it from other inventions.

My invention relates to valves, and particularly to valves used inconnection with internal combustion engines in which hydrocarbon is usedas a fuel.

The object of the invention isfto provide a valve for such use whichwill be of the required lightness in weight, and at the same timepossess the necessary qualities of strength and resistance to thecorrosive or chemical action of the hydro-carbon fluids or gases withwhich they come into contact during use.

It has become well-known in the practice of operating gas engines of theinternal combustion t e, that cast iron possesses greater dura ility andhas more lasting qualities in resisting corrosion and other chemicalaction of gasolene and oils, such as are used in the operation of theseengines, than any other metal which can be economically. used. Inasmuch,however, as these valves are required to have a given amount ofstrength, it is undesirable to make the cap of the valve of cast iron,for the reason that in order to give it the required strength, the

amount of iron used becomes such as to make the valve so heavy thatundesirable noisiness results when the engine is operated, and thisweight also tends to limit the size of the valve opening which may bevadopted in designing the engine. Valves having steel caps are thereforepreferably used in many cases, and the seating surfaces thereof, whichare the surfaces which come more intimately into contact with thegasolene and oils, are therefore'necessarily of steel. Steel beingparticularly susceptible to corrosion, soon becomes pitted, and leakage.of thevalve results. In spite of this defeet, however, steel valves arecontinued in use but with corresponding uneconomical effects.urthermore, I have found that in .use the stem of mushroom valves usedin internal combustion en 'nes is subjected'to certain forces whichifler from those to ,which the cap is subjected. That is, the principalforce to which the stem is subjected is a frictional force which resultsin a wearing or a tendency to wear the surface of such stem. The cap, onthe other hand, is not subjected to this frictional action, but issubjected to forces which warp or tend to'warp it. It .is, as isevident, desirable to maintain the conformation of .both the stem andthe cap, and particularly the latter, in that any warping thereofresults in leakage of the valve. ,7

The desirability of constructing the valve icap in a manner and from amaterial such that the tendency to warp will be counteracted to thegreatest possible extent is particularly desirable as a result of theextended use of valves in motorcycles. Motorcycle valves are operated atextremely high speeds which result in the generation of extremely hightemperature, in fact considerably higher than has heretofore beengenerated in connection with the use of internal combustion engines.These temperatures become so high that sometimes the metal of the valvesacquire even a low red heat. Such temperatures in an ordinary valve notconstructed in accordance with my invention, it will be readily seen,create conditions which tend to permit the valve to ve much more easilywarp than would or inarily be the case. a v

To overcome these deficiencies, I make the stem of one character ofsteel, and the cap of another character, as will hereinafter appear.

The specific object of my invention, therefore, is to provide avalvewhichwill have the characteristics of strength belonging to steel,and the power to resist chemical action or corrosion which belongs tocast iron;

as well as to provide a structure permanent ,in its outline and requiredshape.

My said invention consists. of means hereinafter fully described andparticularly set 'forth in the claims.

The annexed drawing and the following descri tio'nset forth 'in detailcertain means e embo ying my invention, the disclosed means, however,constitutingbut one of various mechanical forms in which the principleof the invention may be applied. a

In said annexed drawing :-Figure 1 representsthe body portion of a valvetogether wrthits stem as prepared prior to the'application of the castiron, said structure bemg shown partly in cross-section. Fig. 2 is goodwearing a similar viewpartly in cross-section showing a mass of castiron applied thereto. Fig. 3is a similar view of the completed valve.

In constructing my improved valve, I first form the main or body portionthereof, consisting of the cap portion A and the stem A; In practice,the stem is made of cold rolled or similar low carbon steel havingqualities and hence capable of resisting the-frictional action to 'thegreatest possible extent, and having the necessary tensile "strength, Tothis stem is welded electrically or otherwise the cap portion A which Imake of nickel steel or a steel similar thereto having a uniformmolecular construct-ion, that is a structure without grain formation,and therefore particularly adapted to resist any warping action, andhence are particularly adapted for use as a cap. the term steel withoutgrain I mean a steel such as that described having an exceedingly fine,dense, homogeneous, crystalline'formation without such granular forma:tion as "tends to cleavage. The cap portion 1 made of theabove-described character of sired result obtained, the best results,however, being obtained by the use of from 11} to 5 per cent. of nickel,these being the limits which are practically always employed. This,structure having been completed, a

mass of cast iron is then applied to the periphery, as shown in Fig. 2.This step is carried outby means of an oxi-acetylene flame or othersimilar source of heat by means of which the end of a bar of cast iron Bmay be fused while contiguous to the periphery of the body portion 'A.The ap plication of this flame fuses both the peripheral portion of thesteel and' the cast iron, and unites the two metals to form anf integralmass. This step'having' been completed, the structure is then machinedto assume the desired final exterior contour of the valve, as shown inFig. 3. By this means, it will be seen that a peripheral rim of cast1IOI1 is formed integrally with the body portion of the cap and theseating surface, and therefore that portion of the valve which comesmost intimately in contact with the gasolene and oil is formed of castiron.

As will be observed from the above'description, the annular cast ironrim is relatively thin, is provided only for the seat ing surface andhence, in so far as concerns those characteristics of the valve whichgive it ,the tendency to resist warping, is a negligible quantity. In sofar as relates to its non-warping qualities, the valve-cap consistssubstantially wholly of steel of non-granu lar structure.

In this manner a valve having the required characteristics of strength,durability and resistance to corrosion and. chemical action is provided.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim and desire to secureby Let ters Patent is a 1. As a new article of manufacture, a valvehaving a stem of steel having a character such as will permit it toresist frictional action to a high degree; a cap having its main orbody-portion integrally united with said stem and made of steel adaptedto resist warping to a high degree; and acast iron rim' or seat-portionintegrally united with the said body-portion.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a valve having a stem ofcold-rolledsteel; a cap having its main or body-portion inte grallyunited with said stem and made from steel of a non-granular molecularstructure; and. a cast iron rim or seat-portion integrally united withthe said body-portion.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a valve having a stem of cold-rolledsteel; :1 cap havin its main or body-portion made of steel a apted toresist warping to a high degree; and a cast iron rim or seat-portionintegrally united with the said body-portion.

4:- As a new article of manufacture, a valve having a stem of steelhaving a character such as will resist frictional action to a highdegree; a cap integrally united to said stem and made from steel havinga non-granular molecular structure; and a cast iron rim integrallyunited with the said body-portion.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a valve having a stem of low carbonsteel, and a cap having its main or body portion formed of nickel steeland its rim of cast stem of steel, anda relatively thin annulus 10 iron.a of cast iron on the contact'surface of said 6. As a new article ofmanufacture, a head. valve having a stem of low carbon steel, Signed byme, this 23d day of December, and a cap havin its main or body portion1910.

formed of nicke steel and its rim of cast C. THOMPSON, iron. integrallyconnected therewith. Attested,by r

7. A composite valve for gas en has and W-rmmm Wnurz,

the like consisting of an integral ead and HnmuxErsnm.

